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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Galactic Release Song Off New Album 'Ya-Ka-May'

GALACTIC RELEASE SONG OFF NEW ALBUM YA-KA-MAY

Today the first single off the forthcoming album YA-KA-MAY by venerated New Orleans outfit Galactic has been released digitally via iTunes. The album is an imaginative mix of interweaving New Orleans genres from jazz to brass band to funk and the unique gender bending regional hip hop called "bounce."

The first single, entitled "Dark Water" features a dynamic and soulful vocal performance by award-winning New Orleans singer John Boutte backed by a scorching guitar riff over a thick hypnotic bass line and hard percussive drumming. The end result is a modern and distinctly New Orleans sounding reinvention of blues and soul unlike anything before.

From the Artists:

"Having John Boutte in the studio to write "Dark Water" was such an easy, free flowing experience. Boutte came in with 8 or 9 key words that he wanted to use in a melodic way -"dark water" being some of them. He worked around with those words through a few takes and then he figured it out - and KILLED IT. That same night, Anders Osborne was hanging at the studio so we decided to get him to take a guitar solo on the tune - and he KILLED IT." - Robert Mercurio, Galactic Bassist

"Collaborating can be sticky at times but Galactic's confidence in their ability to shine as musicians made the entire experience sweet. They are real professionals and have a truly artistic vision for where they want to take the music but were still very generous and gave me the freedom to be myself and approach the lyrics and phrasing with absolute comfort. The atmosphere in the studio was relaxed and there was a sense of joy and camaraderie that many bands unfortunately lose over time. I can remember when Galactic first got started playing gigs on Frenchmen Street and I've watched their progress over the years, as they have become one of the funkiest grooving bands from the New Orleans music scene. It was a joy working with Galactic and I know we made some amazing music. P.S. Go Saints!" - John Boutte